Recent floods are the biggest tragedy after 1971: Sherry Rehman

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Mon, 10 Oct 2022, 7:14 PM

ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday said the recent floods in the country were the biggest tragedy after 1971 when Pakistan had lost its eastern part.

Speaking in the Senate, she said there was no environment of business as usual in the country after the recent record breaking floods.

Some 33 million people, she said, were affected due to the floods and their sufferings still continued. About 20 million of them were without basic necessities, she added.

The minister said during the recent monsoon season, 700 percent more rains were recorded in Sindh and 600 percent more in Balochistan.

She said the World Bank had estimated an impact of 40 billion dollars on Pakistan due to the devastation of recent floods.
Some 13,000 kilometers of roads and 36 bridges were completely destroyed which needed to be restored on urgent basis for connectivity, she added.

She criticized the opposition for carrying out public rallies and doing politics at the time when the country needed unity the most. “You should be ashamed, when the countrymen are suffering, you are taking oath from your followers like Hitler for staging protests and a long march,” the minister said.

Responding to the climate minister’s statement, Leader of the Opposition Senator Shahzad Wasim claimed that Sindh was sinking not because of climate change but “the corruption of provincial government”.

ANF recovers over 101 kg narcotics; arrests five

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Raiq Qureshi

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Mon, 10 Oct 2022, 7:11 PM

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RAWALPINDI, Oct 10 (APP):Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) while conducting raids in different areas managed to recover over 101 kg narcotics and arrested five drug smugglers.

According to an ANF spokesman, ANF Rawalpindi conducted a raid near Islamabad Motorway Toll Plaza and recovered 95 kg narcotics including over 61 kg charras and over 34 kg opium from secret cavities of a car and rounded up four accused.

In another raid, ANF conducted a raid at General Bus Stand Quetta and recovered five kg charras from the possession of a drug smuggler.

Separate cases have been registered against the accused, he said and informed that accomplices of the accused would also be sent behind the bars.

Imran should first appear before JIT and then go to court: Marriyum

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NNPS Desk

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Mon, 10 Oct 2022, 7:06 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Monday asked PTI Chairman Imran Khan to first appear before the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) and then go to the court in the Prime Minister House audio leaks.

“Foreign-funded ‘Fitna’ (Imran) should appear before the JIT instead of going to the court. He has confessed his crime and it is time for him now to be in jail,” she said while reacting to the PTI chief’s announcement of approaching the court regarding the audio leaks.

Imran Khan should better explain his position to the nation “for conspiring against the country, politicking on state affairs and at the cost of national interests, and purchasing votes of parliamentarians to prolong his stay in the power”, she added.

She advised the PTI chief to abandon his “sinister moves”, keeping in view his previous botched plots against the state.
The “foreign-funded Fitna’s planning” for horse-trading to prevent his ouster from power, while putting the national interests at stake had also been fully exposed before the nation, she added.

WFP further scales up operation to complement govt flood response

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Raiq Qureshi

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Mon, 10 Oct 2022, 6:47 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP):World Food Program (WFP) continues ramping up its emergency operations for Pakistani families devastated by floods.

Life-saving food and nutrition assistance and recovery and resilience-building support are being rolled out, with an aim to reach 2.7 million people who are facing emergency level food insecurity (IPC-4) and need urgent humanitarian aid, said a press release issued here on Monday.

WFP is also increasing its logistical support to the Government.

Nearly eight million people are still reportedly displaced, 644,000 of them are in relief camps. The flood water have receded in some areas, but scores of communities still remain cut off, creating challenges for the delivery of aid.

There has been an outbreak of waterborne diseases, with 4.4 million cases of cholera, dengue and malaria reported nationwide, turning the flood emergency into a health crisis. Some 600,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas have no safe place to deliver babies, while 5 million children do not have immunization and nutrition care, the press release said.

The floods have exacerbated previously high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition for millions of people.

The latest WFP and FAO assessment indicates that the number of people requiring emergency food assistance will increase from the pre-flood estimated 7.2 million to a staggering 14.6 million from December through March 2023, the press release added.

UN Disarmament Fellows briefed on Pakistan’s perspective on arms control, nuclear non-proliferation

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Shahid Saleem

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Mon, 10 Oct 2022, 6:39 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (APP): A group of UN Disarmament Fellows comprising of officers from 24 countries, currently on a visit to Pakistan from 8-10 October as part of their international study tour under the auspices of UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNoDA), visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the visit, they received a briefing on Pakistan’s perspective on Arms Control, Disarmament, and nuclear Non-Proliferation as well as the imperative of unhindered access to dual-use technologies for peaceful socio-economic applications, a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on Monday said.

The group of UN Disarmament Fellow comprised of officers from 24 countries including Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iran, Libya, Montenegro, Pakistan, Palau, Poland, Saint Kits & Nevis, Togo, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

During the October 8-10 tour, the Fellows will also be visiting Pakistan Centre of Excellence on Nuclear Security (PCENS), Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science &Technology (PINSTECH), National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), Defence Science & Technology Organization (DESTO) and Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) to witness the application of nuclear and space technologies in the area of public health, industry, agriculture, food security, power generation etc.

At PCENS and PNRA, Fellows will receive briefings on Pakistan nuclear safety & security architecture, regulatory mechanisms and safeguards introduced by the Government of Pakistan in line with global standards which have been internationally recognized and acknowledged by the IAEA.

The Fellows will also be visiting different laboratories, globally acknowledged reference libraries and state-of-the-art facilities at DESTO and NIH.

At SUPARCO, the participants will get acquainted with Pakistan’s space programme and its utility for the socio-economic development of the country.

The UN Programme of Fellowships on Disarmament was launched by the General Assembly at its First Special Session devoted to Disarmament in 1978. It is for the first time that Pakistan is hosting such an international study tour for UN Disarmament Fellows.